Bitcoin Forum

Please before you contribute to this thread, do understand Bitcoin and blockchain are two different things don't mistake the benefits of one to the other. Bitcoin needs a blockchain to function but the blockchain don't need bitcoin (no disrespect). Try to stay on topic so i can get some key points to strengthen my debate if there'll be a need for one in the near future as the awareness of the technology is increasing rapidly (yearly) in the country. Considering bitcoin is just another currency, what can it offer that my local currency can't to improve the economy of the nation? Already done some research and understood the benefits of blockchain to a country's economy but I'm yet to understand that of bitcoin. Enlighten me please.

I must admit that I do not know what is the current economic situation in Nigeria, but Bitcoin is not some magic currency that can change things over night and help people to live better. Perhaps the biggest influence of Bitcoin on some country is in fact that it create new jobs, mosty in exchange companies or people who do business with cryoto ATMs or anything similar.

Also, we should not neglect the consumption aspect, people like to spend Bitcoin in times when its value is going up, so merchants who accept crypto as a means of payment profit from that, and state is profit from value added tax. Some countries profit from hosting big mining farms, others for producing popular hardware wallets or mining equipment.

Very little, unfortunately.
Bitcoin is a currency, it can only do what currency can, and you can use it the same you use your own currency.

There is one advantage over traditional cash or digital, you don't need to be next to the guy in case of cash and you don't need a third party (as with digital).
From this, we have a better speed at sending money, not waiting for payments for days and so on, reaching people who don't have a bank account, dealing with fewer intermediaries, basically making the transfer of value fasters and with increased coverage.

But this is where it stops.
Bitcoin won't create jobs, won't create factories, will not make people smart, will not combat corruption, government's stupidity or anything.

And I won't agree with Lucius on this part


Those jobs are jobs that get paid for a fee you pay, an intermediary just like the banks, if people stop dealing with the traditional fiat and switch to bitcoin entirely those jobs will be dead, just like they were when there was no bitcoin. When there will be no Naira, they will get on the unemployment lists.

I seriously doubt any 3rd party that you must pay to get a deal done is actually adding anything to the economy.

Let's see this example.

I must buy something from Tom for 10 000$, but I must use an intermediary.

I choose to buy less than 10k and pay the guy with the rest, so Tom gets fewer sales.
I choose to buy the exact 10k, I pay the guy a fee, Tom gets its sales, but I've just paid more so I will cut my expenses and John won't be able to sell me anything.

So rather than bringing value, it's more redistribution and is actually hurting the economy.
JUST like a poor coverage and high fees banking sector would.

Now, I would really want to hear from the OP some real data, no clickbait bs about real-life usage in Nigeria. People, shops, business and not only that they offer bitcoin payments, how many bitcoin payments are they getting!
Without that data is impossible to really measure if there is an impact.

I don't know anything about Nigeria's economy or anything else--I'd actually like to hear a little more from OP about what things are like there and how he thinks bitcoin might help.  I definitely agree with you that there's nothing magical bitcoin is going to do for any economy.  If that were the case, you'd think it would have made a bigger impact on things than it has.  Most people I know still have only heard of it from the media, and I've only met one or two people in real life who've owned any bitcoin.

Right on.  That's why when I read the typical bounty spammer posting things like "bitcoin will bring us a bright future" or some other such nonsense, it drives me up a wall.  Those spammers are probably earning more money as a result of bitcoin, but I don't think it's made much of an impact on any country's economy overall--in fact, I'm pretty sure of that.  And then there are people who genuinely believe those things about bitcoin.  If there's any evidence that bitcoin has helped a society overall, I'd sure like to hear about it.

I have a little knowledge of Nigeria, maybe I know that Nigeria is an oil-producing country. Not only that, I have also read that the economy in your country is quite advanced among other African countries and Nigeria in 2014 has been named the largest economy in Africa.

And what is familiar about Nigeria is its scam level, well your country is one of the biggest scam countries in the world. Sorry for that, it's not like I'm vilifying your country, but I'm talking about facts. But I am very sure that bitcoin will be a new land for nigeria citizens to earn income, because I know nigeria has a high level of internet users, I also often order services on some nigeria citizens.

I hope that with bitcoin, it will reduce the level of scammers in Nigeria because there will be more places to find new income that Nigerian citizens can find in bitcoin.


Well maybe Lucius intention is to create a new way of making money where Nigerian citizens can trade in the bitcoin market with high volatility.

Maybe many people think that bitcoin won't have an impact on the country's economy, but for me bitcoin has an impact on my own economy. It's just that if everyone in a country knows bitcoin, it might have a big impact on that country. And I have read reviews about bitcoin from a number of forum members, that bitcoin has brought changes to their economy.
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1106196.0
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1478069.0;viewResults

I totally agree with all what you guys have said and that was my main reason for this thread. I thought there was something I'm not aware of that bitcoin can magically do. I get so confused when I attend seminar to socialize with like minds and all I hear (when they're about promoting bitcoin to novices attending the seminar) that bitcoin can do this, bitcoin can do that for the nation economy when actually those benefits they speak of are attributes of the blockchain technology and not bitcoin (as a curreny).

The country's economy is totally dependant on Oil (petroleum) and a little bit of agriculture (at least that's what the government tells us). I'm of the believe bitcoin as an acceptable payment option can have an impact on the business sector of the country's economy by removing boundaries, giving merchant the privilege to extend their business beyond the boundaries of the country as a result bringing more revenue into the country.

Well if it wasn't for that damn Nigerian prince scam thing that's become infamous....lol.  But seriously, there are probably as many scammers in the United States or anywhere else.  Unfortunately, it's the first thing that comes to mind when I hear about Nigeria. 

Thanks for the info, I do appreciate it.  I wasn't aware of Nigeria's oil-rich state, nor its agriculture.  I did take a single course in geography in college, but that's about it and it was years ago. 

The quick payment thing is definitely something bitcoin can do, but I just wonder if people would rather use a service like PayPal or any of the other similar payment processors that can function the same.  It's not like you can't send money around the world for a very low fee these days.  Granted, there's no anonymity with those payment methods, but that's not something everyone worries about. 

I would think that the advantage of bitcoin is that you don't have to rely on a bank account in order to send money.  That's something that PayPal does require, and I'm pretty sure other services like that do require bank accounts in order to fund them.  Don't know about Nigeria specifically, but there are a lot of unbanked people living in the world who can't send money around the world because they don't have a checking account.  Then again, if that's the case then they might not be able to buy any bitcoin in the first place.   

Practical benefits:

Some people will get rich by being early investors, some people will earn money by working for bitcoins, some people will profit from mining, some people will use it for international transactions that they couldn't do otherwise.

Theoretical benefits:

Bitcoin preserves the wealth in case national currency crumbles, Bitcoin fuels shadow economy (can be a good or a bad thing, depending on who you ask), Bitcoin has allows your people to economically connect with people from any other country, and so on.

The problem here that theoretical benefits remain theoretical because there's not enough adoption in the world to see if Bitcoin can indeed have such effects on economy.

I don't want to sound rude but you, me, Lucius, hatshepsut93, The Pharmacist and the OP we are irrelevant on a national scale, especially the size of Nigeria.
Our finance won't make a dent unless one of the above is Satoshi.
Same for the all the ones that entered and voted that topic. (Is loaded there:P?)

So, let's do the math to back my opinion.

Let's assume that Nigerians own all the bitcoin!  All! And they have bought it at 0 cents!
That would be a humongous $193,017,405,309 , half of the GDP of 375.8 billion.
But, that's the GDP, an annual indicator, the bitcoin is a whole 10 year gain!
Anyhow, divided by the wikipedia population of 200,962,417, we have the humongous...sum of 900$ per capita. Still pretty nice.

Let's go to reality. I doubt that Nigerians own more than 1% of all the bitcoins and I feel tempted to put a 0 before but let's say it like that, let's also assume the entry point was 3k$.
And from 900$ per capita, we're down to ...6$. A Bigmac Large Menu!

Oh, and please don't think that by trading you could have earned more.
Without somebody losing you can't make more than the market cap, so Nigerians earning more than that would mean some other country is bleeding money because of Bitcoin.


Remember the Cyprus crisis?
Everyone there was buying bitcoins because they had their bank accounts frozen!
How earth they were doing this nobody knows, but it has to be true.  ;D

There are numerous benefits of bitcoin to your country, but I am sorry to say, but your governments are too blind to this because they are more concerned about government and how to stall funds. One of the benefit of bitcoin to them is that it could crated job, look at when we talk of OTC , there are so many exchanges that could open for bitcoin transactions and they could earn commission for it like they do for some of these pay point, because I visited Nigeria(Lagos ) of recent and I saw the business being rampant.

One of the thing that is also killing the economy of Nigeria is that there are too many middle men always involved in a transaction, but with bitcoin, it could eliminate that and make transaction faster and even more secured than their traditional bank.

This is probably the general benefits of a country. But there is also a barrier of entry to each of them. You need capital to bought some Bitcoins so that it could get you crazy returns, you need to know how mining works and buy rigs for that, and so on. Anyway, the first benefits might be no longer valid because 1 Bitcoin is priced at $10k or so, so unless they wanted to wait for years, I don't think the average joe would get great benefits from that.

Creating new exchanges will probably give short-term benefits, which is job opening, but I doubt exchanges would hire thousands of people. So it's marginal if you count it on national scale imo.

CryptopreneurBrainboss, we all post some opinions, and they are of course different, which is quite normal. But what interests me is Bitcoin in any way help you in your life, do you live better or similar as before?

Probably Bitcoin cannot help one country as a whole, but it can help individuals who can then change things around for the better. I look for some info about cryptocurrency in Nigeria and I see you have few crypto exchanges in country, Nairaex seems to be most popular.

I do not know what percentage of Nigerians are using Bitcoin and altcoins, but i found interesting info in this article :

Bitcoin is not a magical creation that will solve the world's problems in poverty, corruption and economic downturns. It's a decentralized currency and that's just it. Perhaps bitcoin is overrated when it terms to such issues due to what happened in Venezuela--though that in itself proved to be false due to other factors affecting transactions within the country. Anyway back to Nigeria, bitcoin is money, and if people don't have their own money to trade for bitcoins, they won't have it, and they're stuck in the vicious circle unless something happens that will break the chain i.e. a caring leader who'd break walls to establish a new Nigeria. Sadly though, that doesn't seem to come into a reality, and wouldn't be in the near future.

Presently the system is affect by the threat of Government security agent to control the spending of the suspected corrupt officers, although this security agency are not absolutely free of corruption itself. This has led to hoarding of dollars among the rich and some even running out of the country. These so called rich men keep their monies at home not even the banks to prevent the security and other financial agency from monitoring. I dont support corruption but the way is been handled controls fund exchange and money in the economy. Bitcoin as a store of value can keep this fund safe and also engage exchange within the system (within and outside the country) for other lucrative use without been monitored.

If i can recall correctly I have replied on numerous thread relating to how bitcoin have affected my life positively, I don't think there's any individual who have invested in bitcoin that hasn't been affected positively especially if that individual is the patient type. I do live better now and been on the forum has also been supportive.

The reason for this thread was to get an idea of how bitcoin would affect the economy of the country if it's been recognized by the government or atleast been used by more individual just as other nations are experiencing a rapid increase in bitcoin adoption. Currently in the country bitcoin is been used mainly as an investment vehicle to financial freedom. I see some point in your statement, so the focus should be helping individuals have a better life with investing in bitcoin then it will reflect on the economy as a whole right?.

What are the benefits of bitcoin to any country economy? I dont know. It may be helpful only in Iran or venezuela there visa are banned

That is worse than Soviet Propaganda!

30% of Nigerians use bitcoins regularly? What the hell does he mean by regularly?
Nigeria has a population of 200 million, 30% means 60 f millions!

There are 400 million transactions in the entire blockchain if any of those 60 million regular users would have made 3 transactions it means that half of the chain is made from transactions from Nigeria!
But, let's say that's possible!  ;D ;D ;D

There are currently 26 786 434 addresses with a balance, half of them with less than 10$, how it is possible that 60 million people use Bitcoin regularly?
That guy has no shame promoting his crappy exchange.

To be honest i don't really know something about the economic situation in nigeria. I don't think that bitcoin will be used widely as a currency in the near future. Its still a store of value for me, maybe ongoing development in the future will change this.
The big PRO on bitcoin for me is still the fact, that it's not controlled by any gov. It cannot be produced unlimited as they do it with currencies, backed by nothing. You already know how much bitcoin will exist in 10 or 20 years.

Benin City, a City in the southern parts Nigeria, ranked 3rd globally among cities with the highest number of google search(https://cointelegraph.com/news/these-are-the-cities-googling-bitcoin-as-interest-hits-17-month-high?fbclid=IwAR3LM18Ih1JPbMtAJrxutxwZBZFbTwXlWejldVFHl0xnVHKl6GvYzmc6WEA)
That is an indication of the level of interest. However,much of these are for speculative investments and not really for practical uses such as supporting local businesses, ecommerce  and cross-boarder payments.
If there are no/little practical use in commerce, then bitcoin in Nigeria is not doing anything exceptional or different from local currencies

It's so unfortunate that news outlets contribute to the narrative of Bitcoin being a safe haven currency in these countries, while in reality it's rarely being used as such because most people just can't afford it.

I get it that there might be a very small number of people actually using it as they claim, but the average few dollar per day earner there can't participate in a fee bidding war where the highest bidder gets its transactions included in a block.

If that wasn't enough, most of these people don't have a consistent internet connection that would allow them to use it whenever they want. They need and use physical money, mainly us dollars because it works at all times.

Let's say my opinion goes in that direction, changes always start at the lowest level and it spreads in all directions. For example you know about bitcoin, it help you in life, and you learn others about how to use it - they also see some positive changes in their lives and transfer that knowledge further.

However, it all depends on the attitude of the government to allow or not allow people to become more financially stable, because we have visible examples of China and India where the authorities openly oppose to decentralized financial system.


It's probably an exaggeration, but maybe it is about 30% of adult populations (18+) who use Bitcoin daily. I try to find data about population by age, and half of country should be adults, where less then 3 % are older then 65 years, and around 50% is younger or close to 14 years. So this is country with very big percentage of young population.

I know that even 30% of 100 million is big number, maybe it is just half of that number or even less - but I do not doubt that people in Nigeria use and will use Bitcoin in future. Africa is very often mentioned as next big market for everything, they can not always stay behind the rest of the world.

Exactly, bitcoin creates more jobs then creates more opportunities to achieve super profits, and only those who can take advantage of this opportunity, they will change their lives, breaking their tough economy. Talking about news that bitcoin can help a country, it's just rumors, dreams, a country's economy cannot rely solely on bitcoin to change, bitcoin is not a safe area, the government is an important platform in the process of improving the economy, their plans will lead to this process, bitcoin is just a small factor

For poor countries in Africa, I think cryptocurrency will be the place that makes the GDP of African people increase quite a lot.
Bitcoin is a deflationary mechanism and a long-term investment in it will be a great thing. Your money will rise every year like investment in real estate.
If Nigerians realize this opportunity, their country will soon improve.

Nope, that number won't fly either.
400k daily transactions in the chain, each person doing a transaction a day means 12 million people who use bitcoin once a month. In the whole world!
And we know that bitcoin is booming in Iran, Venezuela and South Africa /s, so we would have to cut the number to 3 million. If we say that they use regularly, so once a week not a month, we have to cut the number to 750 000.
And this while still excluding the US, EU and the rest of the world:P.

Neah, it's total bs, from a service who claims to have 100k users but is ranked as the 350k most visited website.  ;D

In general, I have to say that Bitcoin is not here, and by design, to help any country to gain progress in their economy. Economy is to be improved by way of increasing domestic and national product. As to how, it would be the country's role and responsibility. Bitcoin is going to contribute to a country's citizens, however. In terms of remittance, of less or even zero tax transactions, of fast dealings, and so on. It would also help your country's people to counter the inflationary design of fiat currency. But if you think that Bitcoin will really uplift your country's situation, I doubt it.

Thanks for the input, so in other worlds bitcoin technically, wasn't created to benefit any country's economy instead it was created to benefit (best interest of) the common man i.e citizens of a nation who welcomes the currency. If that's so then why is the community engaging in promoting bitcoin as some economy savior and pushing for the government (which this currency wouldn't benefit) to recognize it as a world currency.

The reason why some are pushing bitcoin as some sort of economic saviour is because all of the currencies around the world are fiat, or in other words those currencies have value only because the governments say they do, but governments have been abusing their power to print as much currency as they want and this has created economic crises in countries like Venezuela and Zimbabwe and it is likely many other countries will follow on their footsteps, but bitcoin was created with the opposite intent no one can create more bitcoin than the hard limit imposed by satoshi and it is unlikely this will be changed in the future, so this offers protection to those in countries suffering hyperinflation.

Let us take it with its face value. The Bitcoin community is promoting Bitcoin because we believe in it as the best form of currency in the world. It represents freedom to us. It is not inflationary. It has proven to be fully independent from the movements of the prices of stocks, foreign currencies, GDP and GNP, gold, etc. But I guess we are not promoting it as a country's economic savior. We are promoting it as the best payment method for the people.

However, if the government is open enough to adopt the use of Bitcoin then it will have to regulate its use in order for Bitcoin transactions to be fully legal and therefore appropriately taxed. So in a way they are benefiting from it but certainly not as a savior of their economy.

Bitcoin can help Nigeria to become a powerful (economically) country on the African continent. Many famous politicians from Nigeria support BTC and prove that its acceptance will give them nothing but great benefits. Soon, many countries will make crypto deals, and it becomes profitable even for the country to have this cryptocurrency and use it on the global market.

I have done some contract work in Nigeria before and I know you have a vibrant micro economy. <Small taverns and markets> So, you need a payment method that are quick and cheap and something that can protect the value of your wealth from the devaluation of your local currency. I know some people use M-Pesa, but there are risks involved by using centralized payment methods that can be shutdown by the local government. <The government can just force these companies to stop operating in their country>  ::)

Bank charges and access to Bank accounts might also be too expensive for some people, so having your own Bank on your phone with Bitcoin, might be the best alternative. If people can spend money on phone calls and data, then they can use that to transfer money <bitcoin> from one person to the other.

You might have to find some way for them to do this via smaller shops Free Wifi or using the Lightning Network to reduce the tx fees even further, if they cannot afford the data cost.   ???

In my opinion, in other to have a good starting point for argument it is essential to understand how blockchain can benefit any economy before then trying to localise the issue to specifics of the country. In today's economy especially in Africa, the secrecy that surrounds the award of contracts and workings of government is something that have made corruption festers beyond imaginations and has cripple the economy and the country as a whole to an appalling point. So, if the only thing blockchain can bring is about the transparency, then 50% of problem have been solved and that is a great benefit that can happen to any country of the world irrespective of location, ethnic or developmental strides.

Naira lost it really value when Nigeria economic went into recession within 2015 and ending of last year and it just recovering and as such Nigeria needs a financial system that do not depend on dollars. As far as naira is page against dollars it is difficult for the economy to recover fully as it has happened to many African countries. Bitcoins is decentralized and Nigeria be the largest and the most popular Africa countries can adopt bitcoin into her financial system and if that is done their can embark on mining the remaining Bitcoin which will bring undepend on oil for sometime.
Before the corrupt politicians know and learned anything about it, good Nigeria that know about this technology and Bitcoin will be able to restore the country on the part of prosperity.

Bitcoin is not something you need a high tech for, I mean of course having a great internet connection and having a good stable computer and mobile phone would mean the worlds but even if you are in a place where internet connection sucks and you do not have a high end phone, you can still send and receive money via sms in bitcoin.

Not just bitcoin, there are other coins much faster with lower fee's that you can use as well via sms and that way someone may have bitcoin whenever they want in any country they want as long as they are capable of sending a message or receiving one.

All you have to do after that is find a place that has internet connection and open an account on any exchange you want and suddenly you have money. So, it is not as easy and good to use as in lets say New York for example but it is still quite possible to change your life.

Honestly, Nigeria needs to liberate themselves from the use of dollars against Naira, it is really destroying their economy without them knowing, to me, dollar is just like a curse to them and because of dollar, many people has successfully been able to steal so much money from their country into the America.

I learnt that there was a time that they needed to actually get that liberation and the current president wanted to partner with china for them to use their Yuan against Naira instead of dollar since majority of their product including services is from china, but their parliament did not approve it and I guess it is because majority of them are sitting on so much dollars that they have used to steal their currency, I think Nigeria really needs to implement bitcoin more than any other country.

Most Africans have been sceptical about Bitcoin, blockchain and cryptocurrencies for sometime now and this has been perpetuated by the possibilities that virtual currencies can be manipulated towards crime, tax evasion and money laundering. However, as more information is beginning to filter through African communities as well as the availability of testimonial enlightenment being administered by those who dared to try cryptocurrencies to their peers, more people are increasingly embracing cryptocurrencies.
In Nigeria, I know for a fact that the institutional abuse of the volatile Naira assisted the rise of bitcoin as Nigerians are trying to preserve the value of their wealth and earnings.

According to the research carried out in August 2018 by Localbitcoin,  Nigeria came first in Africa in terms of bitcoin trade and $258 million dollars worth of BTC was transacted in 2018 alone by Nigeria. This means that BTC is already working in Nigeria and it is filling a certain role that the Naira is failing to do.


 1. Remittances
Bitcoin can also be useful for remittances in African countries like Nigeria that are constantly facing currency and forex challenges. According to the World Bank, remittances to sub-Saharan Africa grew from $37.8 billion in 2017 to around $39.2 billion in 2018 and $39.6 billion in 2019. Again, Nigeria topped African recipients with $22.3 billion in 2017. You can clearly tell that this is one area that BTC is disrupting and will continue to do so.

2. Sub- Sahara Africa has a large number of unbanked people.
The World Bank estimates that Sub-Saharan Africa has around 350 million unbanked adults, and cryptocurrencies like BTC can fill this gap to move in to fill in the gap as they can move money across communities and borders with ease. In Nigeria, you will find that in some areas Muslim communities shy away from banking institutions where existing financial products on offer might not compatible with the principles of Islamic finance. These gaps can be Plugged by BTC.

3. Most economies in Africa are highly informal and that includes Nigeria.
The International Labour Organization (ILO) estimates that more than 85.8% of all employment in Sub-Saharan Africa is in the informal sector. It is therefore easy to see that this is one of the factors that have influenced the adoption and embracing BTC as young startups that are tech-savvy move to align themselves with the world's pace.

4. Stability
Nigeria has had a long history of military coups and corruption and this has largely affected the Naira. If one was to do a study in Africa you would see that Nigeria is not the only victim of doggy politics affecting the economy as the financial stability of economies in Africa is an oasis enjoyed by a few countries. Currencies have been known to lose value in a whiff and people’s savings wiped in the wink of an eye. Bitcoin offers a stable option as it is international and is not tied to any company, government or geographical location.
 
5. High literacy rates
Nigeria is one of the most learned countries in Africa, in fact, there is a running joke for years in Africa that says if you throw a stone in random in Lagos there is a 50% chance that you will hit a graduate. So it's easy for Nigerians to adopt BTC and they can use that literacy to earn for themselves trading and innovating new services and products around BTC.

However, there are several hurdles and roadblocks that BTC faces in Nigeria and Africa as a whole. Such roadblocks include; power issues (Nigeria suffers from incessant power cuts), Internet Connectivity issues, Internal conflicts (Boko Haram etc.), Low-income levels etc

So a lot of pros here have answered some of your questions.
Congratulations to this too.


Now this happens when you get sick of just doing it by yourself and cannot share with anyone. I feel you there.
It is like, you needed someone to share it with and what will be the best option. Yes! Your country.
This will be our part now.
I remember one guy having a statement in this forum that Hodlers are for lazy people.
No. There is a lot we can do and one of the best is trying to make sense to people on how bitcoin work and also the blockchain.
Let us all admit it. One country might have 10 percent only of its population that is really using bitcoin. Or it might be lower than that.

Well, you might be the key for helping your own countrymen.

All these people that will tell you that Bitcoin will help the economy of a developing country, they all just don't know what they are saying. If Bitcoin can help the economy of a developing country, then why not the economy. Of a well developed country as well? Jokes. Bitcoin doesn't help you, it is not a free money and you have to work for it. If you can't buy and invest in Bitcoin then there is no way its going to help you and that's it. The only way bitcoin helps is that it makes your transactions fast and easy.

Maybe when your friends ask you, you can tell them that. At least with Bitcoin they will be able to send money to their friends and family abroad without the help of banks.

Remember that Nigeria is a country with population of about two millions people and among this population 75% of this total population are unemployed. You will agree with me that few numbers of people in Nigeria who invested in bitcoin for some years ago  have offer themselves job opportunity and therefore improve the nation economy by reducing unemployment.

I’m not sure about the situation in the Nigerian economy, but I know for sure that it would only give a significant effect when a lot of people are using it. Preventing the crisis with developing so much fiat for use, and the government acknowledging the use of Bitcoin.

Assuming that people start using in Nigeria, there would be a benefit in the integrity of Bitcoin Blockchain, and mostly the cryptocurrency space would increase in users. I'm just worried about how people are going to worry about the confirmation time of it, but it certainly will help people who don't have banks to receive money, and they can start their own business.

you should be the one to know that because you are living on that country but for us that are not living on nigeria we cant really give accurate answers  . you should first ask yourself if bitcoin is fully allowed and legal on your country  , if yes then does the merchants or stores their already suports this payment method ? if yes then you can answer your question on your own  .  bitcoin is beneficial and can bring alot of benefits to a certain country that accepts it  .

Point of correction, as of 2019, the estimated population of Nigeria is over 200.96 million, ranking 7th in the world

If i knew it all I won't have asked this question and you don't have to be a Nigerian to contribute to the discussion. Economy has the same meaning anypart of the world you come from. Don't think any nation have accepted bitcoin legally as you suggest if it's accepted in my country. The question has to do with the benefits, what are the benefits other countries are recieving that we can tap into. So far only few user have given me something to think about other are just posting generic spam say bitcoin will benefit the country if we accept it bla bla bla. Conclusion bitcoin is just like every other currencies accepting it doesn't automatically mean your economy will improve. So I guess what we should be promoting is the blockchain technology and not bitcoin.

I think, there is one thing that Bitcoin can help in the economy of your country.  It can attract investors once your country opened up to cryptocurrency.  I mean, if the  Nigeria become an open city to cryptocurrency especially Bitcoin, it can attract lots of company that take advantage of Bitcoin market.  Several crypto related company will definitely open a business in your country such as exchanges and other establishment.  This way it can help by providing jobs to  your citizen and taxes to the government.

Bitcoin is not a magician, Nigeria problem is greater than bitcoin.  I have known Nigeria too well for you to tell me that the problem of Nigeria is their economy, the problem of Nigeria is never their economy, the economy is great but the problem is the level of corruption that is going on in the country and that is what needs to be tackled first.

For you to tackle the corruption, there has to be something done about their leader which should start from their electoral system, which will bring me to the right question that the op would have asked, the right question you would have asked is How blockchain can benefit Nigeria which is what is really needed, first is that it can make their election system very transparent and take away all these rigging and selection of bad leaders into the office.

Your local currency is fiat and bitcoin is digital. Therefore, there is high tendency for bitcoin to fluctuate and give a positive growth in your wallet that can better your life as a person, your family and community if you want to help. It will further make you not to be dependent on your country for job when you are able to set a business up for yourself from money got from bitcoin either in trading or holding. You can be an employer from there, meaning you are helping the economy.

The growth of the society, if they adapted the capabilities of bitcoin, it's possible to boost the growth of your society/community and through it will continuously develop its technology.

Maybe in politics? We know that Bitcoin is decentralized so it can't be affected when there's an economic problem or political issues in your country. We also know that the more users of Bitcoin, it will instantly grow and all of us will benefit in this growth. But before that, knowledge is the key to make it all possible. There are so many ignorants and they think that BTC was for wrongdoings.

Are you forgetting bitcoin gets it's price value from it been tradable? From past history other political issue had affected the price of bitcoin through FUDs so that of my country won't be different. Sure it won't affect the price of bitcoin globally but it'll affect that of the local exchanges. Bitcoin might be decentralized but that doesn't mean it's immune to political issue since emotions is still playing a major role in the price value.

Bitcoin has different trading value all-round the goble. Zimbabwe crisis is affecting the price over there, Korea value is different for that of the US. Even now the price of bitcoin (locally) gets affected (positively or negatively) by each government decision in regards to the trading value of the US dollars.

Already the nation economy is in a precarious state no disrespect but it's fact. It's not hard explaining why bitcoin would play a better role in your nation that your currency it already doing.
We all know that corruption is ravaging the Nigerian economy although the nation is enriched with natural resources. Bitcoin can be a hard not to crack for corrupt politicians and any scheme the come up with would be detected all thanks to the blockchain technology bitcoin is performing on with your local currency can't

There are so many benefit of bitcoin to our dear country nigeria. one is job creation, we all know the situation of job scarcity in this country, but as many youth get to know about crypto especially bitcoin, we all grab it as a full time job and we are doing well in it. Secondly it create inter relationship between nigerian and other country people.

Remittance, if u wanna send money to relatives out of the country it would be cheaper with btc due to lower fees.

Can't say that bitcoin can directly improve economy of your country. Why? How? Of course it can't, curious how currency that's so unstable can improve country's economy but there is another important factor too. For example Georgia offered great opportunities to Bitfury to open it's one of the most largest bitcoin mining datacenter in Georgia. What was aim? Aim was to show Georgia on map as a country who tries to develop and currently it's 3rd country as I remember in bitcoin mining network. When others see that there are opportunities in this country to start technological business, especially when country enjoys it and tries to give you all possibilities to run business, it leads to an increased number of investors, increased number of innovative things produced here and etc.

You said quite a lot of interesting stuff there but this area picked my interest. Bitcoin has provided  employment for some of our people here in Nigeria outside the government's purview. Many people now indulge in local exchange of Bitcoin as trading via telegram groups. This interest has further taken some to other online trading activities like Forex Trading. Youth now stay at home and earn a living for themselves.

You're not actually (totally) correct here. Bangladesh beats Nigeria on that to the first position. Though I must confess that Nigeria made the "Prince with dead rich uncle (dad) Inheritance" kind of Scam popular.

Just think of it this way. If the crypto market is successful in your country in terms of your citizens earning then new money is coming in from your country. The effect is it will improve both micro and macroeconomics depending on how much are your citizens are earning with Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrencies. Aside from that if there is a huge demand for cryptos in your country it will attract a lot of crypto related businesses and also blockchain related businesses from ICOs being promoted locally and to blockchain companies hiring new employees all of which will try to improve your economy.

Well, I was expecting this from the moment I saw your questions and posted here.
Everybody is shouting bitcoin is great, bitcoin that, crypto this but when it comes to showing one simple example of a mass effect (not a guy earning satoshi in his basement at 20 cents/h)...silence.

And although bitcoin might be able to affect one country's economy in a perfect scenario, as I previously posted, it's still is insignificant when you compare it with a hundred billion economy.
Taking Venezuela for example, wow, the enormous growth in bitcoin trading, 500 BTC a week...seriously?
3 Walmarts superstores in the US have recorded higher sales than that each!

People have to understand that no matter how enthusiasts you are, we're still at the beginning, no matter how much people talk about it, actual mass adoption and mass usage hasn't started yet. And, for most of us, that's a pretty damn good thing.

And, talking about the bolded part.
Most really don't care about it,  and saying great, such, moon, wow is the sure way to make a two-liner in 10 seconds and avoid getting into trouble into a sea of shitty posts.


Doesn't this mean that a country is losing money in this scenario?  ;)


5 seconds
http://letmegooglethat.com/?q=Inflation+in+Nigeria

I have actually been invited to Nigeria to lecture their on entrepreneurship and I thought them on a topic on importation also being the fact that I know much about import, then when it was time to discuss things that are actually limiting them from importation, especially mini import, and some of them mentioned the challenges of not being able to make payment to some of these United State companies because of the ban PayPal placed on them.

I wonder why PayPal will ban them, now you can see one of the economic value of bitcoin payment now, these has automatically broken that bondage that PayPal put them, now people can make payment without all these barriers of PayPal or even their government on their transactions.

Hey
Not just Nigeria I feel Bitcoins can actually work to strengthen every country's economy .
These are some points I feel might actually benefit them :-

1. It is very essential to have a currency which is globally controlled by individual investors and not just by the people of your country , this way if your country is in a time of crisis you could really use it's help.

2. Bitcoins could prove to be a powerful tool for people individually, they actually give us freedom , freedom to do anything with our money therefore I feel people can come forward and decrease the oppression if God forbids they are in any.

There are x number of cases .. list goes on ..

As someone also living in a developing country, I think the main benefit would be gaining capital. Bitcoin is just a currency like a dollar but I think it's still easier to send compared to traditional money transfer. For example many Youtubers I watch now have btc and eth as an option for donation in addition to Paypal and Patreon. It's possible to make a small business selling digital goods and just have them paid for in btc or other crypto. Money goes straight to your wallet, less hassle with the bank and remittance centers.

I think another one is it provides an alternative for the unbanked. I don't know about the banks there in Nigeria but banks often have a minimum maintaining balance that can still be too high for those living near the poverty line. With bitcoins and a trusted local exchange, anyone with a decent android phone would be able to save money.

right, that is a direct benefit, which with program bounty, will make the Nigerian community have activities that can make money. with the money they can use, so that the wheels of the country's economy rotate

If you work with Lightning then it's viable, but if you just stick to the main-chain then it might become a bit too expensive, mainly when you sell low value (few dollar range) items. I have seen it myself where someone accumulated plenty of smaller payments, then sent everything in one transaction to an exchange without understanding why the transaction hasn't got a confirmation after nearly a whole day of waiting.

It's about time for people to stop complaining and start shifting over to Lightning so that they can have instant and near free transactions. Admittedly, it would be more of a useful option if exchanges started to accept Lightning deposits, but that's only a matter of time in the end.

Cryptocurrency do have some benefits, and the main thing is the easy transaction – it makes transaction cheap, fast and easy by eliminating the middleman which can be banks etc. As long as the two parties involved in the transactions knows each other then there is nothing for them to worry about. So, mainly what it’s about is transaction – making transfer fees to be cheap, compared to what you will be paying for bank transfers, writing checks and the rest of them, Bitcoin is very cheap cheap compared to all that.

It also creates easier international trade and another thing is that it gives you individual ownership, you don’t need the bank to be doing everything for you, you now do everything without the help of banks or any financial institutions. Lastly, Security is another good side of cryptocurrency, they are very secured, though some people will argue about this that banks are more safe, but cryptos are the best in security.

When a Nigerian needs all these benefits then he needs to adopt bitcoins and this way bitcoin can help any country. Because, only the individuals build a nation and its economy. When bitcoin is useful at the most least element then why not at a whole level?

Well that is a concern. I haven't tried it myself nor donated to those Youtubers.


Increase employment? I think the only time it will affect employment is if these new companies are receiving their funding from abroad via bitcoin. Same for freelancers.

I definitely agree with the "inflation busting". Put some savings in crypto and leave them there, definitely beats the interest rate of banks over time.

Yes, bitcoin is a currency. The essence of bitcoin creation is to make a digital P2P currency that will cross border lines all over the world. And because of its usage, there are many opportunities open for every people. Many jobs were created because of bitcoin industry. Fortunately, many people become interested in investing bitcoin because of its development. That is why it is a helpful tool to become a successful not just by individual but by country.

Yes thats right, especially since the problem of the world economy at the moment is that the unemployment rate is very high in many developing country. if bitcoin is free to use, the business will grow rapidly, many jobs will begin to open, of course it will make more and more job choices and grow the microeconomic community.

The benefits of Bitcoin are huge and supposed to be in countries like the nation. Bitcoin can be utilized to make a profit by trading. In many countries such as the Asian part, Bitcoin is very popular.

And the benefits of Bitcoin that I've experienced are the advantages of trading crypto coins. So I now also do not become idle anymore because it already has a job like crypto coin trading.

1 Bitcoin now is worth about $10,000 and that's worth around 3.6 million in the Nigerian currency. An average person in Nigeria earns around $82 a month and most times this is not enough for them to take care of themselves and family and there are even people there that earns below that; low salary earners in the country are being paid 10,000 Naira which is around $28. So, how do you expect people that are earning that less to be investing in Bitcoin? And worst of it all, some dumb people here are saying that Bitcoin will make them rich.

Tell me, how is that going to happen? So Bitcoin is now a magical currency that makes people turn rich overnight? Even rich people invest money in Bitcoin and ends up losing it, not to talk of people that has nothing. The only people that will have interest in bitcoin in Nigeria is only the rich people. The average person and less wouldn't have interest there because they are still struggling to survive. So to the OP, the only benefit Bitcoin can offer to your country Nigeria is the same benefit that it offers to other people using it elsewhere and that is fast and cheap transactions and nothing more. Unless you're lucky to invest when there is a bull run and then you can make a profit from it and become rich. But it's not always like that for everyone, it is all about luck.

Oh...... and wealth creation

Hmm, I am still trying to think of how it can create wealth in Nigeria generally, but still can't link it. I know that bitcoin will reward those that are keeping it as store of value in their country but that will be limited to their citizens and how many of their citizens are even in cryptocurrency, and the ones there, how much money do they really invest in cryptocurrency for it to make them wealth.

Wealth is not the problem of that country to the best of my knowledge, because they are wealthy, they have much of mineral resources and they have lost of gift of nature that God has given them, but they are not creating wealth out of it, they have little or no factories that could help them developed these things and market them internationally to create employment, and the oil and gas they rely on is the main source of their corruption.

Full-time traders should register on the respective tax organization, otherwise, their benefits are limited to their circle-family, friends, etc. Day trading is not a job, it is like a daily volatile business and they stare at the screen for making the same profit with the long term traders. Advantages of the trading crypto markets can make things easier for the trader himself, third world countries usually follow the path of the other countries and Nigeria is not a limitation. All nations deserve to benefit from the crypto ecosystem, the purpose of the decentralization matter in this point. The different viewpoints are changing the outcome of the authorized officials.

Technology in general is a force multiplier, thats your advantage to do what is done by other means but with less steps, less cost and greater efficiency and speed and with greater ease.   I will still argue Bitcoin needs to keep developing in order to justify growth and interest ahead of any other competition from across the finance spectrum but Nigeria can certainly register a gain from greater involvement with Bitcoin.  
I spotted this chart the other day and I see many countries on there but I think all countries and every nation and their people can benefit from cryptocurrency but certainly a person without any access to banking should see a benefit from being involved in the world economy through crypto so long as its easy and convenient with low costs to them.    
  The point is to add a tool into the pockets of the common people, which helps to mobilise the citizens productivity better.    They can advertise more widely and produce in a digital economy not just locally but across the world via a simple point of access.    Banking can be far slower to achieve such a thing and require far more cost because it its load is not distributed but firmly planted in costs to setup centrally in that area, requiring staff and special attention.  Bitcoin is a product available to every person on the planet and for no initial cost, only the desire to be involved.  
   
 Why would any country deny themselves a good working product and the abilities it can give their population to be better productive in a faster moving world economy, I hope no country would want to deny the advantages people might gain and produce from their own initiative.   It will certainly benefit their local economy to have a higher percentage of work and commerce available across the country.

The benefits of bitcoin in our country is to have an income and give us hope in the future to have a big profit like million because only in bitcoin have a chance to be a millionaire someday. Inly bitcoin can give profit to those  have no work because in here theres no discrimination as  long as you know how to follow instructions about here.